In the International Space Station (ISS) program, America's
partnership with Russia is like a marriage falling apart. First,
there is anger, then denial, and finally resignation. Until
Wednesday's (May 6) Science Committee hearing, the prevailing mood
on Capitol Hill was denial about Russian problems in building
elements of the ISS. But it appears there has been a shift. A
majority of committee members now seems resigned to the fact that
Russia will be unable to meet its commitments. They are eager to
find a solution to get the project back on track.

NASA Administrator Daniel S. Goldin; Jay Chabrow, chair of the
recent report on the ISS; and Duncan Moore, from the White House
Office of Science and Technology Policy, testified before the
standing-room-only hearing. OMB Director Franklin Raines declined
an invitation to appear before the Committee. Lt. General Thomas
Stafford did not testify due to illness.

In his opening remarks, Science Committee James Sensenbrenner
(R-WI) urged members to get the ISS "on the road to recovery."
"Let's admit we have a problem," he said. "And let's take action to
recover lost time and costs."

Congressman George Brown (D-CA), the ranking committee member,
echoed Sensenbrenner's remarks and said he is "troubled by the
continued failure of the Russian government to adequately fund
Russia's contributions to the station...." It is "no longer
appropriate," he said, "to say the Russians are going to meet their
commitments." It is time to "confront realities," to "get down to
the nitty gritty" and fix the problems.

Chabrow commended NASA for making "notable progress over the
last four years" on the ISS program. He said, "Nearly half of the
total U.S. flight hardware has been built and is in integration and
testing, with over 500,000 pounds scheduled to be completed by the
end of the year."

Despite the progress, Chabrow said the task force "has
identified a number of critical areas with potential for increased
cost growth and schedule erosion." The estimated cost of the ISS,
according to the task force, will likely reach $24.7 billion and
probably won't be finished before October of 2004. As a
consequence, Chabrow recommended the "ISS program should plan for
the development schedule to extend nominally an additional two
years with additional funding requirements of between $130 and $250
million annually, throughout the assembly period and beyond."

In regard to the Russian difficulties, Chabrow said the task
force "believes the most cost-effective approach is to continue
forward with Russian development plans while allocating additional
moneys to account for specific Russian shortfalls." An example
would be to fund a "U.S. propulsion module to insure against
Russian inability to deliver sufficient logistics support to the
station."

Goldin said NASA is studying the Chabrow report and, at this
time, is not prepared to accept the new numbers. "NASA will
complete an official response to the [Chabrow] report no later than
the second week of June," Goldin said. "If, when NASA has completed
its review of the [Chabrow] report and has determined the overall
status of Russian contributions, NASA concludes that additional
resources are required for the ISS program, I will request those
resources from the Administration." Goldin agreed with Committee
members that "we have to have a change in course to move [the ISS
program] forward," and that a "different relationship [with Russia
is] a possibility."

Acording to Goldin, Russia has proposed an adjustment of the
planned launch date of the Service Module to March/April of 1999.
About 95 percent of the components have been installed. However,
funding continues to be a problem. The Russian Space Agency (RSA)
has yet to receive $44.5 million promised in 1997. The total amount
required in 1998 for work on the ISS is $340 million. The RSA has
received only $65 million to date, of which $8 million is dedicated
to ISS funding. Most of the remaining amount is expected to be
financed through off-budget funding, but details "have not yet been
determined."

In testimony provided to the Committee, OMB Director Raines said
the "Administration is committed to building the space station..."
"If additional resources are needed for station development," he
said, "we will look for offsets within NASA while protecting our
priorities in space and earth science, advanced space
transportation, and aviation safety research." Specifically, he
said the OMB "will look for offsets first from within the $6
billion spent annually on human space flight, as long as it does
not compromise Shuttle safety, and second from other non-priority
areas." Additionally, reductions in other station activities "such
as operations, research, and later assembly hardware, may be
necessary."

Other Highlights

To reduce ISS expenses, Congressman Rohrabacher (R-CA)
said an option "is to privatize and commercialize the U.S. portion
of the space station as much as possible and as quickly as
possible." "We must allow and encourage private enterprise to play
a greater role in the station's development, operation, and usage,
and we need to do this right away," the California representative
emphasized.

Congressman Matt Salmon (R-AZ) praised Goldin's management of
NASA and said he stands out like "a flamingo in a barnyard" in the
Clinton Administration.

Congresswomen Jackson Lee (D-TX), a strong supporter of NASA,
asked Goldin the mechanism that would be required to remove Russia
from the ISS partnership.

New Members

There are three new Democrats on the Science Committee:
Congresswoman Barbara Lee (D-CA) who replaced Ron Delleums;
Congresswoman Lois Capps (D-CA), a member of the Space and
Aeronautics Subcommittee who replaced her deceased husband, Walter
Capps; and Congresswoman Debbie Stabenow (D-MI), elected in
1996.

About the NSS Capital Capsule
The Capsule is a timely report of highlights from Capitol Hill
hearings and other events involving space issues. Prepared by NSS
staff or volunteers who attend in person, the Capsule provides NSS
members and activists an "insider's" look into the thoughts of our
national elected officials on space issues.

The National Space Society is an independent, nonprofit space
advocacy group with headquarters in Washington, DC. Its 23,000
members and 90 chapters actively promote the creation of a
spacefaring civilization.